LaLiga - Matchday 28 - 19/03/2017 20:45h

Ten-man Valencia CF lose out to FC Barcelona in hard fought game

March, 19 2017 -

Reduced to ten men for the entirety of the second half, Valencia CF lost 4-2 to FC Barcelona at the Camp Nou on Matchday 28 of the LaLiga season. A tremendous effort throughout the game was not enough to avoid defeat, as Barça used the numerical advantage in their favour in the second period of play.With 22 men on the pitch, the game began with both sides showing aspirations of victory. Valencia CF's first chance came when Joao Cancelo sprinted down the wing on a counter attack, although Barça's Javier Masherano was able to get across to avoid a cutback to Fabian Orellana at the back post. Soon after, Luis Suarez was denied by Diego Alves for the home side. Orellana was again close to the action minutes later, as he blocked the ball on the line when Lionel Messi had seemingly put Barcelona in front.Playing against the reigning LaLiga champions for the first time, Carlos Soler made goalkeeper Ter Stegen work with a shot off a poor Gerard Piqué clearance, forcing the German into one of the saves of the night.A long ball from Alves upfield fell to Munir El-Haddadi, and the player on loan from Barça squared up to the goalkeeper in a one-on-one. Ter Stegen won out by quickly racing off his line, but the danger provided by wasn't over and the resulting corner brought a hush to the Camp Nou.Eliaquim Mangala rose highest to meet the set piece, heading inside the left post to make it 0-1 to Valencia CF.Barcelona got an equaliser quickly, when Suarez hit an angled shot in after breaking past the VCF defence, and with the score at 1-1 things took a turn for the worst. Mangala gave a light tug to Suarez' shirt on the next move for the Catalan club, and the Uruguayan did not hesitate to go down in the area. The referee pointed to the penalty spot, but not before reaching into his pocket to show a red card to Mangala.Messi stepped up to convert the penalty, giving Barcelona a 2-1 lead against a Valencia CF side reduced to ten men. This time it was VCF's turn to respond rapidly, and they scored almost instantly. A magnificent pass from Soler found José Luis Gayà, who spotted Munir alone in the middle. His pass found the striker, who put the ball into the net. The game went into half time at 2-2.Before the restart, Voro made a substitution to bring on Aymen Abdennour for Fabian Orellana -covering for the absence of Mangala in the centre of the defence.The second half began with two good chances, as Alves was required to keep out a pair of Neymar strikes. There was little he could do about Messi's second goal of the night, however, and Barcelona went ahead for the second time in the game.Shots against the crossbar and saves galore from Alves -who had an exceptional game despite the defeat- meant that VCF were still in with a chance of levelling the game in the final stages, until former Valencia CF player André Gomes rounded off the scoring in the 89th minute. He tapped in the ball after a Neymar run down the left flank and took the final score to 4-2.Although a painful defeat, Valencia CF's performance meant that they go into the international break with their heads held high.

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